EU and Agenda 2030: strengthening the implementation of the SDGs

Key points

The EESC:

• reiterates that, despite the fact that the Commission considers the SDGs a key part of the political guidelines, the EU needs an integrated, comprehensive strategy with ambitious long-term goals and plans, in order to accelerate progress on the SDGs at the European and global level. Instead of addressing the goals separately, the EU should adopt a holistic approach to reduce the complexity of its policies and instruments for sustainable development;
• emphasises that the Commission needs to make a long-term political commitment, which has to go beyond this term of office. It must commit to involving stakeholders at an early stage in designing and setting the agenda, to ensuring that the other institutions are represented, and to providing appropriate resources to ensure meaningful and inclusive civil society organisation participation. The SDGs have to be a long-term commitment even beyond 2030;
• stresses the need to engage civil society, the public and private sectors, academia, and youth and women's organisations in the implementation of the SDGs. Given the recent positive outcome of the EESC as a facilitator in reflecting the view of civil society organisations in the EU Voluntary Review, we urge the Commission to build with the EESC a convening space for regular and structured civil society dialogue with the participation of companies, trade unions and civil society organisations that work on the ground;
• believes that other key enablers in accelerating SGD implementation are societal acceptance by proportionately sharing the costs and benefits of the transition, a proactive communication strategy against the anti-2030 agenda, further investments and alignment of the SDGs with the European Semester, multilateralism and building a strong SDG/Green Deal Diplomacy. The cost of the transition should not be unbearable for companies, workers or the rest of society.